Sunday, February 26, 2006

The other day, I finished up one of the 18oz. "cans" of oatmeal, which I give to Calvin and Jessica as a treat. (Yes, I know it's not that great for them, but they don't get much oatmeal or get it that often.)

On a whim, I wondered if Calvin would stick his head into the can to eat the oatmeal. So yesterday, I made a little pile of oatmeal for Jess to keep her out of the way and put a little in the empty can to see what Calvin would do.

I took these photos today. As you can see, Calvin had no problem sticking his head into the can (and I held the bottom so he wouldn't get stuck). Yesterday, he'd come up for air while chewing but, since Jessica wanted oatmeal, too, I think he tried to eat as much as he could before taking his head out of the can.

As you can see, she didn't have any problems with sticking her head into it, either.

Later, I gave them some dried papaya so I could get good photos of the "begging" faces that they do. Here's Jessica's:

And here's Calvin's:

And a cute picture of Calvin in general.

I love these two guys!! :-) So many great rabbits like Calvin and Jessica are abandoned at shelters each year or, worse yet, turned loose to fend for themselves. And with Easter approaching, the numbers of both will go up. Please adopt - don't buy a rabbit, and learn about what a bun needs to be happy and healthy before bringing one home. They are such wonderful animals and are worth every minute I spend with them (and then some!). :-)

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Tonight, I cleaned Jessica's and Calvin's ears. And again, Calvin is a very unhappy rabbit. He and Jess are laying side by side in their house right now, and his ears are pinned back. I think from his gaze that I should have gone up in flames by now or fallen into a bottomless pit.

I know I often make it sound like the rabbits don't have much in the way of brains. For example, they don't understand gravity (if either Calvin or Jessica starts to eat something at the top of the ramp leading down to the first floor of their cage, that food inevitably goes rolling down the ramp). However, they do some pretty smart things sometimes.

The smartest thing I see Jessica do is keep ahold of her lettuce as she eats it. She'll put a foot down on it so it doesn't flail around or anything as she chomps. With her holding the lettuce, she can rip off pieces with a fling of her head.

Another genius move of Jessica's is how to get attention. One day, she was nibbling on some boxes out here in the living room. I was sitting at my computer, and I kept telling her to stop. She kept doing it, so I finally got up and went over to her. Well, she looks at me, turns, and goes leaping and dancing off, as if to say "Ha ha. Made you get up."

Calvin's brains seem to always be cooking up a new trick to try. One night, I was upset and really stressed out about a final exam for a class. (This was before Jessica joined us.) I had opened the cage and was sitting on the floor in front of the TV and, I'll admit it, crying. I happen to look over at Calvin the very moment he launches himself from his cage (about 18 inches from the arm of the couch), lands on some mail sitting on top of my backpack, and "surfs" on the mail until he drops to the couch cushions and stops about three inches from my face. I almost died of laughter! He had this smug little expression on his face, like "I did it! I'm so great!" I asked him, with tears of joy in my eyes, how long he had been planning that.

Friday, February 17, 2006

I like to buy a variety of salad items for Calvin and Jessica, and one favorite of theirs is radicchio. Radicchio sort of looks like red cabbage except that it's red and not purplish. I will peel leaves off of the head to give them to eat until the head is smaller than my fist, at which time I'll give them the rest of the head, whole.

Well, it should come as no surprise that Jessica usually grabs the head and runs downstairs with it, leaving Calvin on the second floor of the cage wondering where the tasty radicchio went. If I remember, I peel off a chunk before I put the head into their cage, so when Jessica grabs it and runs off, I have some to hand to Calvin (much like how Jessica now steals her own carrot while still thinking she's stealing Calvin's - see #1 under Tails of Sibling Rivalry in the Sept. 05 archive.)

The buns are good at sharing the litterbox, water bowl, etc., but when it comes to food, there is no such thing as yours and mine or his and hers. It's all Jessica's :-)